Blik Blok

Spend a little time in an elementary classroom, and you've probably seen “tangrams”-- silhouette cards on which little kids lay out geometric shapes to create various pictures and arrangements. Teachers use these important tools to introduce geometrical concepts and build visual-spatial perception skills, and kids often enjoy them. There's just one problem: they're usually only two dimensional. With Blik Blok, however, not anymore! This puzzle game challenges kids to configure three dimensional blocks into arrangements that have been designed by real architects. Our testers breezed through the very first levels, only to draw in their breath as the challenges got trickier. We'd definitely give this game to an eager-beaver third grader…but we'd also look forward to keeping it for several years ahead. (Mindware, $24.99)